Container capping machine



March 1, 1938.

R. D. ANDERSON 2,109,763 CONTAINER CAPPING MACHINE Filed Dec. 50, 1953 7Sheets-Sheet 1 March 1, 1938. R. D. ANDERSON 2,109,763

CONTAINER CAPPING MACHINE Filed Dec. 50, 1933 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 1,1938. R. D. ANDERSON CONTAINER CAPPING MACHINE 7 Sheets- Shegt 5 FiledDec. 30, 1933 0 M) ow 3 @Q 9 m w hm NQ Q Wm .Q NQ l W Q RMJN March 1,1938. R, ANDERSON 2,109,763

CONTAINER CAPPING MACHINE Filed Dec. 30, 1953 '7 Sheets-Sheet 4CONTAINER CAPPING MACHINE Filed Dec. 30, 1935 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 &

a 5" II 25 E: F? 28 L w K=E' March I, 1938. R. D. ANDERSON 2,109,763

CONTAINER CAPPI NG MACHINE Filed Dec. 30, 1933 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 March 1,1938. R. D. ANDERSON 2,109,763

CONTAINER CAPPING MACHINE Filed Dec. 50, 1933 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 4 I 1751% [\e I v 72 x 117 152 Patented Mar. 1, 1938 co1-rrs1iv1:rt CAPPINGMACHINE.

Richard D. Anderson, Baton Rouge, La., assignor to Standard OilDevelopment Company; a corporation of Delaware Application December .30,1933, Serial No.. '7ll4,7.'72.

8 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in apparatus for cappingreceptacles.

It is an object of this invention to mechanically dispose a greaseplunger and cap upon a filled container. It is a further object of thisinvention to provide for the positive separation and placing of a greaseplunger and container cap respectively into position upon the container.I

Other objects will be apparent from the specification and from theaccompanying drawings in which latter- Fig. 1 is a side elevational viewof the device;

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the device;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the'device;

Fig. 4 is a rear elevational view of the device;

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line V-V of Fig. 3and showing the barrel pistons in elevated position;

Fig. 6 is a side elevational view of the structure illustrated in Fig.5;

Fig. '7 is a top plan view of the placing spider taken along the lineVII-VII of Fig. 5;

Fig. 8 is. a top plan view along the line VIIIVIII of the structureillustrated in Fig. (I showing the capping head;

Fig. 9 is a rear detail view ofthe capping head column and spider; I.

Fig. 10. is a top plan view taken along the line X--X of Fig. 1 showingthe driving mechanism; 30 Fig. 11 is av diagrammatic view of the mecha-'nism for actuating the spider; Fig. 12 is a diagrammatic view of themechanism for efiecting the plunger movement;

Fig. 13. is a diagrammatic view of the mecha- 35 nism for efiectingmovement of the capping head;

Figs. 14 to- 19, inclusive, are diagrammatic views showing the positionof the apparatus for placing the grease plunger and can top into thecontainers at different stages. of their movement.

Fig. is a longitudinal sectional view taken.

along the lines XX-XX of Fig. 3 showing a barrel piston in, loweredposition; and

Fig. 21 is a transverse sectional view taken. along the line }Q I-XXl ofFig. 20.

Referring particularly to Figs. 3 and '7 ofthe drawings, referencecharacter A designates containers or cans which are fed from a guidewayB into position to be engaged by a placing spider 50, C. The placingspider C is driven in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Figs. 3and 7 in regular strokes, the intermission being longer than the movingtime of the strokes. Each container A is positioned by the placingspider first 5 at. location X directly under a grease plungerpositioning device D, plunger a isiitted into the container of grease.The grease plunger a facilitates the filling. of the grease gun duringsubsequent use of the. grease by a consumer.- The container A with itsgrease.

see Fig. 3, where a grease plunger 0. is next delivered to an inspectionplace Y during one stroke of the placingspider; andis. then delivered toa position 2 directly under mechanism F for positioning a containercapibupon the container. .The container is thendelivered by the placingspider to a discharge guide. wayv G The'framework table I which issupported by legs 2.from abase- 3. A center column. 4 is. carried by thebase 13- and extends upwardly. throughthetable. l..

Placing spider 3 The placing spider C positions andfeeds the containersA through'the apparatus from. the guideway B having a trough 5 acrossthe table top I to the discharge guideway G; Atransfer rail 6 guidesthecontainerAinto the pathof the placing spider C. The placing spider Cis moved in rotation around the columnfl'as anaxis in acounter-clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 3 by mechanism to belaterdescribed. The movement of the spider C is in, regular strokes with theintermission between strokes consum ing a longer period of. time than.does the moving time of the spider. The spider C. isprovided .in thepreferred embodiment with. eight prongs 9 which protrude outwardly fromacole lar o-r hub Ill. The prongs 9 of the spider are disposed in spacedrelation to the table The collar ll! of the spider encircles? the column'4 and rests upon the capping table I. Thehuh or collar I0 isprovided'within its innerperiphery with a notched ratchet ring 20. 1 V rThe spider is driven in rotationthrough. the following arrangement ofparts The eight point notched ratchet ring 20"is engaged by a ratchetpawl 23 which protrudes through a slot 25 in. the central column 4. Theratchet pawl 23 is'mounted in a head 28 on the top endof a shaft 29within the column 4. The ratchet pawl is'driven in rotary reciprocatingmovement from a motor 32 as follows: See Figs. 10' and 11. The driveshaft of the motor 32 is geared to a worm 33 through gears 34 and 35 andworm shait 36. The worm 33 drives a worm gear 31 and a shaft 38. Theshaft 38 through bevel gears 39 and 40, actuates the main drive shaft 4|of the machine. .Crankdisc 42 fixed to shaft 4| actuates a cro-sshead 43in reciprocating movement in a guide of 'the apparatus includesa a link89. The link 89 is 44 by means of a connecting rod 45. The crosshead 43engages an arm 41 which latter is ful- Upon reversing the stroke of thepawl 23, the end of the pawl slides freely upon the inclined surface ofthe ratchet slot until it engages the base of the next adjoining slot.The pawl is forced radially outwardly from the head 28 by means of ahelical spring 52. A spring stop 55 see Fig. 7 holds the spider in fixedposition while the ratchet pawl 23 is making its return or clockwisemovement.

Capping head A capping head is provided for positively feed' ing agrease plunger a upon the containers in the position a: and forpositively feeding a container top b upon the containers while in aposition a.

The capping head comprises a tubular frame 65,,

see Figs. 6, 8 which embraces and is mounted for reciprocation upon thecenter column 4. The tubular frame 65 is provided with radiallyextending arms 66 which carry thebarrels ,6! and 68, respectively. Thecapping head barrel6'l is adapted to be. loaded with a grease plunger aWhile in its elevated position. 7 The capping head ba rel 68 is adaptedto be, fed with a container top b while in its elevated position. Thecapping head barrels are then lowered into position, see Figs. 20 and21, to deliver the grease plunger and container top, respectively, uponthe containers A. The barrels are guided by thecenter column 4 and keyI25 to be later described.

Plunger and container top magazines Plungers a are fed into the plungerbarrel 61 from a magazine 12, see F gs. 3, 14 to 20, inclusive.Container tops b are fed into. the capping head barrel 68 from amagazine 15. 'I'h 'e magazines I2 and 15 are supported in an inclinedposition by means of frame pieces I6, which in turn are supported by thetable I. The magazines I2 and I5 are provided with discharge outletswhich open into inlet openings 11 and 18 in the barrels 61 and 68respectively, see Figs. 5 and 6. The delivery ends of the magazines I2and 15 are semicrcular in shape as shown in Figures 3, 15, 17 and 19 andfurnish a rest or slide for the grease plunger or can tops for thelongest possible time.

The plungers a and container tops 27 are fed from the magazines l2 andI5, respectively, positively through the inlet openings TI and I8intothe barrels 61 and 68 through the following arrangement of parts. Thespider prongs 9 during each stage of rotation of the spider engage apawl 89, see Figs. 1, 3 and 7, and move the pawl 89 in partial rotation;The pawl 89 is non-rotatably carried by a shaft 8|, which in turn-issupported by a suitable frame 82 carried by the table I. The shaft 8|carries a crank83 to which is attached a chain 84, which passes around aWheel 85. The wheel 85 is rotatablymounted in a frame 86, extending fromthe under surface of the table I. The chain 84 is attached to an arm 81which is non-rotatably mounted upon a shaft 88. The shaft 98 isnon-rotatably connected to pivotally connected to a link 99 which inturn is pivotally connected to an arm 9|, which carries fingers 92.Similarly, the link 89 is pivotally connected through a link 93 to anarm 94, which in turn carries a plurality of fingers 95.

The engagement of the arm 9 of the spider against the pawl 89 forces thefingers 92 and 95 downwardly through a slot I99 in each magazine, toengage behind the grease plunger and the container top in the .magazineand deliver The capping head barrels 6'! and 68, respectively, are eachprovided with a pair of slides I95, see Figs. 5, 21, which are mountedfor reciprocating horizontal movement through slots inthe side walls ofthe barrels into position to close the barrels below the openings I1 and19. The slides I95 are pivotally connected to bell cranks I96 and I9!which are pivotally supported at I98 to bracket-I98a. The other arm ofeach bell crank is provided with a cam roll III], for a pur;

pose to be later described. When the capping head barrels are in theirelevated position the slides I95 extend into the barrels to forma'supporting surface for the bottom cap and plunger which slide into thebarrels. Only one plunger or one container cap or top can slideinto'each barrel, the others being held back by the trigger I94. Eachtrigger I94 is provided with a head II2 which protrudes through a slotin the bottom' of the magazine, into position to engage the bottomplunger or container top respectively. Each trigger I94 is pivotallysupported at II4 upon the frame I57 of the machine, a helical spring II5normally functioning to maintain the head of the trigger zine.

projecting into the maga- The placing fingers 92 and 95 are'mounted onthe magazines I2 and 15. The arms 9| and 93 work through two guides, onefastened on each side of the magazines. The guides are provided with theoffset slots I99 so that when the fingers are pulled downward they areforced down into the bottom of the magazines I2 and I5. When the fingersare at the bottom end of their travel, the ends of the fingers areextending slightly past the inside of the barrels 61 and 68 of thecapping head. At this point the fingers go out of control of the spacingspider and a spring III secured to the magazine and link 89 snaps thefingers into their elevated position. While each finger arm is comingback to its starting and resting position the offset slot I99 in theguides forces the fingers up out of the magazines 12 and I5. The placingfingers come in contact with only one plunger and one top. The placingfingers'place the plunger or top correctly in the barrels of the cappinghead, should they not slide to the proper place of their own weight.

Capping head operation The capping head barrels 61 and 68 carrying aplunger a and a container top b respectively are lowered from theposition shown in Fig. 1 to the position shown in Figs. 20 and 21, inwhich the barrels are telescoped over the containers.

The capping head 65 is. held in correct angular position to engage thecans by means of a vertically disposed key I25, see Fig. 20', in thecenter column 4. The lower portion of the barrels 6.1 and 6K are taperedinternally as indicated at l26. in .Figs. 14-16 and 18. Consequently,when the barrels descend upon containers which are not perfectlycylindrical, the barrels shape the containers to a perfect cylindricalshape and thereby insure the correct fitting of the plungers andtons.

The capping head is operated in vertical reciprocating movement throughthe following arrangement of parts, see Fig. 13.- The main drive shaft4i carries non-rotatably' a cam I 21 which is engaged by a cam followerI28 on a lever I29. The opposite end of the lever is. pivotallysupported at I3I' from a support 532 depending from the table I. A liftrod I64. is connected to an intermediate portion of the lever I29, andto an intermediate portion of a. lever I36. The lever I36 is pivotallysupported at one end by a bracket I31 projecting upwardly from the tableI. The lever I36 is pivotally connected at I39 to the capping head 65.

At thev time the placing fingers 92 and 95 are snapped back into theirwithdrawn position, the cam I2! is withdrawn from the cam follower I28,permitting the capping head to descend by its own weight into theposition illustrated in Figs. 20. and 21. This movement lowers thebarrel slots .11 and I8 with respect to the delivery openings of themagazines which are closed by the outer surface of the barrel walls;-

As the barrels B1 and 68v descend, the grease plungers and containertops are perm ted to slide downwardly in the magazines, as follows: Thebarrels 6'! and 68 eachcarry an arm M4, see Figs. 1 and 20, to each. ofwhich is secured a hook-shaped member I45. When the barrels descend, thehook-shaped members I45 engage a pin I46 upon thetriggers H34 andpullthe ends of the triggers downwardly out of the way of the-plungers andtopsin the magazines. Consequently, all of these plungers and containertops in the magazines slide down, with the bottom plunger and top comingto rest against the out-. side wall of the barrels G'l and" strespectively. I

Positioning pistons Pistons are provided to positively posit on thecated under this carriage with a tension greater than is necessary toput a top on a can, but not enough to crush the can, if the can is alittle longer than necessary. The lever .I54'can come down to itsextreme lower position without crushing the can. One end of the leverI54 is pivotally supported at I58 by means of a support I51 secured tothe table top I. The other end of the lever I56 is driven by reach rods.I59. Each reach rod I59 is connected to across rod I60, which, in turn,is pivotally connected to one end of a lever I62, see Fig. 12. The leverI52 is pivotally mounted at I63 upon. a support I64. The-other end ofthe lever I62 carries a cam follower i '56 which is engaged by a cam I61non-rotatablymounted upon the main drive shaft 4I:. Rotation of the camI61. forces the pistons downwardly within the barrels at a faster ratethan the barrels are moved downwardly.

The slides: I55 of each barrel are withdrawn.

laterally fromthe barrel to: permit descent of the. plunger and top asfollows, see Figs. 20 and 21 The. rolls H6 of the bell cranks, I05 andI161 are moved downwardly upon descent of the pistons by engagement withcam surfaces H0 upon the links i521 Further descent ofthe piston headsl50 forces the'plunger a in the grease plunger barrel li'lv intothecontainer and forces the top b. into the container that is disposedbeneath the container topping barrel 68. The piston head I583. in thecontainer topping barrel- 88 is flat while the piston head I 50 in theplunger placing barrel has a its proper position.

top, the piston actuating cam l2! lifts the capping head to its elevatedposition. Simultaneously the triggers IM are released so that thetrigger heads rise in the magazines to a position to block ofi descentof all of the plungers and tops in the magazines except the ones thatare resting against the outside wall of, the magazines.

The triggers I-Il lduring their upward movement 7 push the plungersand;tops upward in the,

crank H1 is connected to a helical spring I18,

which is attached also to the table top I. Upon release of the pistonmechanism by cam I61 the spring I18 liftsv the pistons. The slides [85thus released are moved latera lyinto the barrels by meansofhelicalsprings I80: I 7

By the construction described mechanism is provided for the positivefeeding oiia-grease p unger and a cover from magazines containing thesame. The grease plunger and cover are fed mechanically to a mechanismfor positively posi-. tioning them successively upon the open end of acontainer.

projection I12; of suificient length to press the plunger down in thecan to 20 Subsequently to positioning the plunger-and- Various changesmay be made within the scopeof the appended claims in which it isdesired to claim all novelty inherent in the invention as broadly as.the prior art permits.

I claim:

.1. In a container capping machine, a magazine for covers, the bottomwall of which is inclined at an angle to the vertical to a deliveryopening at its lower end, a side wall ofthe magazine having a slotextending longitudinally of the maga-.

zine and an intermediate portion of which is inclined toward the bottomwall of themagazine, an arm extending into the slotand carrying a fingerwithin the magazine, and meansfor-actuating the arm longitudinally ofthe slot toward the lower end of the magazine whereby the finger isforced by the inclined portion toward the bot-' tom wall of the magazineinto engagement with a cover and longitudinally'ofthe magazine toforcethe cover through the delivery opening.

2. In a container capping machine, a magazine for grease plungers, thebottomwall of which is inclined at an angle to the vertical to adelivery opening at its lowerend, a side-wall of the. megazine having aslot extending longitudinally of the magazine and an intermediateportion of which is inclined toward the bottom wall of the magazine; anarm extending into the slot and carrying a finger within the magazine,means for actuating the arm longitudinally of the slot toward the lowerend of the magazine whereby the finger is forced by the inclined portiontoward the bottom wall of the magazine into engagement with a plungerand longitudinally of the magazine to force the plunger through thedelivery opening, a capping head, adjacent and in close proximity to thedelivery end of said magazine including a tubular body portion having aninlet opening, and a discharge opening; and a transversely extendingremovable partition in the tubular body portion between the inlet anddischarge openings; means for feeding a grease plunger from the magazinethrough the inlet opening into the tubular body portion; meansfor'positioning a container substantially co-axial with said tubularbody portion with its open end adjacent to the discharge openingthereof, means for telescoping the discharge end of the tubular bodyportion over the open end of the container, means for removing thepartition from the body portion, and means for ejecting the plunger fromthe tubular body portion into said container.

3. In a container capping machine a magazine for grease plungers, thebottom wall of which is inclined at an angle to the vertical to adelivery opening at its lower end, a side wall of the magazine having aslot extending longitudinally of the magazine and an intermediateportion of which is inclined toward the bottom wall of the magazine; anarm extending into the slot and carrying a finger within the magazine:means for actuating the arm longitudinally of the slot between the lowerend of the magazine whereby the finger is forced by the inclined portiontoward the bottom wall of the magazine into engagement with a plungerand longitudinally of the magazine to force the plunger through thedelivery opening, a capping head, adjacent and in close proximity to thedelivery end of said magazine including a tubular body portion, having adischarge opening and with an inlet opening in its side wall throughwhich the plunger is ejected from the magazine into the tubular bodyportion, a partition extending transversely of the tubular body portionto support the plunger, means for positioning a container substantiallyco-axial with said tubular body portion and with its open end adjacentto the discharge opening thereof, means for telescoping the dischargeend of the tubular body portion over the open end of the container,means for removing the partition from the body portion, and means forejecting the plunger from said tubular body portion so as to bepositioned within the open end of said container.

4. In a container capping machine, a magazine for grease plungers, thebottom wall of which is inclined at an angle to the vertical to adelivery opening at its lower end, a side wall of the magazine having aslot extending longitudinally of the magazine and an intermediateportion of which is inclined toward the bottom wall of the magazine; anarm extending into the slot and carrying a finger within the magazine;means for actuating the arm longitudinally of the slot toward the lowerend of the magazine whereby the finger is forced by the inclined portiontoward the bottom wall of the magazine into engagement with a plungerand longitudinally of the magazine to force the plunger through thedelivery opening; a'capping head, adjacent said magazine, including atubular body portion with an inlet opening in its side wall throughwhich the plunger is ejected from the magazine into the tubular bodyportion, the body portion having a discharge opening, a partitionextending transversely of the tubular body portion to support theplunger, means for positioning a container substantially co-axial withsaid body portion and with its open end adjacent the discharge openingthereof, means for effecting longitudinal movement of the tubular bodyportion whereby the delivery opening is closed by the side wall of thetubular body portion, and the discharge end is telescoped over the openend of the container, means for removing the partition from the bodyportion, a piston movable longitudinally of the tubular body portion toeject the portion through the discharge opening into the open end ofsaid container, a latch for supporting the next to the bottom plungerwithin the magazine, and means associated with the capping head adaptedto disengage the latch upon travel of the body portion transversely awayfrom the magazine to permit the plungers to drop downwardly within themagazine.

5. In a container capping machine, a magazine for grease plungers, thebottom wall of which is inclined at an angle to the vertical to adelivery opening at its lower end; an arm having a finger extending intothe magazine; means for actuating the arm toward the bottom wall of themagazine into engagement with a plunger and longitudinally of themagazine to force the plunger through the delivery opening; a cappinghead including a tubular body portion having an inlet opening and adischarge opening; a transversely extending removable partition in thetubular body portion between the inlet and discharge openings; means forpositioning a container substantially co-axial with said body portionwith its open end adjacent the discharge opening thereof, means forfeeding a grease plunger from the magazine through the inlet openinginto the tubular body portion; means for telescoping the discharge endof the tubular body portion over theopen end ofthe container; and meansfor removing the partition from the body portion and for ejecting saidplunger from the body portion into the open end of the container.

6. In a container capping machine, a magazine for grease plungers, thebottom wall of which is inclined at an angle to the vertical to adelivery opening at its lower end, a guideway having a guide surfaceextending longitudinally of the magazine, an intermediate portion of theguide surface being inclined toward the bottom wall of the magazine, anarm in slideable engagement with the guide surface and carrying a fingerwithin the magazine, and means for actuating the arm longitudinally ofthe guide surface toward the lower end of the magazine whereby thefinger is forced by the inclined portion toward thebottom wall of themagazine into engagement with a grease plunger and longitudinally of themagazine to force the grease plunger through the delivery opening.

7. In a container capping machine, a magazine for grease plungers, thebottom wall of which is inclined at an angle to the vertical to adelivery opening at its lower end, a guideway having a guide surface, anintermediate portion of the guideway being inclined toward the bottomwall of the magazine, an arm in slideable contact with the guide surfaceand carrying a finger within the magazine, means for actuating the armlongitudinally along the guideway toward the lower end of the magazinewhereby the finger is forced by the inclined portion toward the bottomwall of the magazine into engagement with a grease plunger andlongitudinally of the magazine to force the grease plunger through thedelivery opening, and means for snapping the fingeiinto its elevatedposition at the end of its downward stroke.

8. A machine for positioned application to the open end of a container,of a series of closure elements of which series each element isseparately applied in sequence comprising, a series of magazines for therespective closure elements each of said magazines having a downwardlyinclined bottom wall and a discharge end, said magazines being disposedin spaced relation to each other and to a conveyor means for containers;a tubular capping head associated with each magazine and with saidconveyor means, having an inlet opening adjacent the discharge end ofthe magazine and a discharge opening adjacent said conveyor means, andtransverse removable partitions disposed within the head between saidopenings; a means for positioning each container, substantially co-axialwith each capping head in the series of magazines and heads, with itsopen end adjacent the discharge opening of each head in the sequence;means for discharging single elements from the magazine into the cappinghead; means for telescoping said head over the open end of the containeradjacent thereto; and means for removing the partitions in said head andfor ejecting the elements therein into said container.

RICHARD D. ANDERSON.

